EDITOR,
This letter is in regard to the Douglas Trail Road (Highline Road and Anderson Lake Road No. 23).
The issue on the table at this point is not maintenance but rather safety.
The Ministry of Attorney General in 1999 divided the Douglas Trail Road (Highline Road) into three portions. I will quote the attorney general's statement with regard to the second portion of the Highline Road:
"The second portion of road is a short portion which is not being maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Highways but which the Ministry spent about $200,000 maintaining during the 1960s. This road is probably a public highway by virtue of Section 4 of the Highway Act and is therefore under the jurisdiction of the Ministry. This fact does not oblige the Ministry of Transportation and Highways to maintain the road but does oblige the Ministry to take care of any serious dangers on the road and advise members of the travelling public who are using the road of what dangers exist."
This fact is everyone's right and I would ask everyone affected by the Douglas Trail Road to write your MLA and the Regional District and make your right known, to have a safe provincial public highway.
Wolfgang Skutnik
Pritchard, B.C.
